Judge denies city’s request to dismiss Rails to Trails lawsuit

ALBANY — The city of Albany’s motion to dismiss the $7 million lawsuit filed by South Georgia Rails to Trails for, among other charges, breach of contract has been denied by Dougherty Judicial Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge Willie Lockette.

In a seven-page ruling signed by Lockette on Thursday, the judge ruled that the basis for the city’s argument that its agreement with SGRT is “not worth the paper it was written on” did not stand up to legal precedent.

“The Greene ruling (Greene City School District v. Circle Y Construction Inc. from 2012) appears to apply only to contracts which have not received voter approval,” Lockette wrote, citing special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) and transportation special-purpose local-option sales tax (T-SPLOST) agreements approved by Dougherty County voters to counter the argument.

Chris Cohilas, who previously served as chairman of the Dougherty County Commission while this argument persisted, said the city now has “a unique opportunity to do what they promised and are obligated to do without spending massive amounts of taxpayer money to argue a point that does not stand up to judicial review.”

“If the city wants to restore the trust it lost during this issue, they have the chance to do that now,” Cohilas, whose firm, Watson & Spence, is representing SGRT in the lawsuit, said. “The city is spending taxpayer money to delay the inevitable. They keep seeking more tomorrows, when they should be compelled to act today.”

Former County Attorney Spencer Lee, who is on the South Georgia Rails to Trails board and has been the driving force in a two-decade effort to complete a comprehensive trail system in Dougherty County, said it’s time for the city to honor the agreement it made in 2015.

That agreement, under which SGRT sold its “only asset,” a 13.6-mile abandoned rail trail that ran from downtown Albany to Sasser in Terrell County, to the city for $150,000 in exchange for the city’s promise to build the rail trail “within five years,” has been, according to SGRT’s claim, breached by the city, which has made little to no effort to construct the trail.

“We’re very pleased with the judge’s order,” Lee said Thursday. “The city agreed to build the trail, but they’ve not honored their agreement. Perhaps now, with this ruling by Judge Lockette, the city will give us a call and let us know that they’re building the trail according to plans. We’ll look forward to working with them.”

Albany Mayor Bo Dorough insisted that, despite the judge’s ruling, the city still feels there is no binding contract with SGRT.

Cohilas said that, by stalling on holding up its end of the agreement with SGRT, the city is guilty of wasting taxpayer money and of losing out on an opportunity to bring more revenue into the community.

“The city could recoup the cost of building a trail quickly,” he said. “As has been proved time and time again, trails increase tax revenue, increase property values, increase a sense of community, increase safety and repurposes property that is undevelopable because it lies in the flood plain.

“The Silver Comet Trail (13 miles northwest of Atlanta) accounts for $59 million a year in economic development. Certainly I’m not saying we can bring in $59 million in Dougherty County, but we can easily make up the cost of building the trail and generate income for years to come.”

Alan Mauldin contributed to this article.

Staff Photo: Tara Fletcher